The USPS currently accepts change of address (COA) information from customers through a web interface. The postal customer enters all of the necessary information to web-based USPS software. See Basile et al. U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050021856, Jan. 27, 2005. In practice the user is presented with a choice once the COA information has been entered. He or she can complete the transaction and submit the change of address as entered on the web interface. A credit card is used both to verify the identity of the customer and to charge a $1 fee for the online COA service.
Despite the availability of this service, only a small fraction of changes of address are handled online. Consumers react negatively to paying a fee, even a small one, for a service that they can otherwise do for free. Many customers use the paper form the USPS provides, or work through the online COA system to prepare the COA form, then print it out, sign and submit the printed form which then has to be scanned by the postal service, losing the benefit of entering the information online.
The print-out once generated has to be submitted to the postal service by the customer and scanned by the USPS PARS system. The PARS system processes COA forms and intercepts mail for forwarding to the correct new address for customers that have filled out a change order. See Allen et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,422,821 and 5,703,783. Scanning of these print-outs can present problems because of the quality of the customer's printer and/or the scanning devices used. The present invention in one aspect would eliminate the need to scan the entire printout and eliminate the need to process the text on the printouts.
The PARS system currently keeps a database of successful COA records, but nothing exists for rejected COA forms. Rejection may occur for a variety, of reasons such as unreadability, lack of compliance with legal requirements (form unsigned), or data errors such as incorrect address information. Rejected COA forms are currently distributed between different systems for handling. The present invention seeks to improve on handling of paper COA forms, which continue to be popular despite the availability of an online COA system.